SOQUEL -- A Capitola man acquitted of fatally shooting his best friend more than two decades ago is accused of killing his drug dealer last week and leaving the dead man's body in a car parked at Soquel High School.

Juan Carlos Garcia, 34, a Santa Cruz resident, was found fatally shot in the back seat of his gray 2003 Ford Taurus in the corner of the lower parking lot at Soquel High School around 12:30 p.m. Friday.

Sheriff's deputies were looking for Federico Lozoya Castillo, 44, in connection with the case. They arrested him just before 6 p.m. Saturday on an unrelated drug charge, then developed more information about the killing and booked him on suspicion of murder and a gun charge early Sunday, according to sheriff's Sgt. Dan Campos.

A sheriff's detective said Garcia was a methamphetamine and cocaine dealer and Castillo had been a customer. However, neither man has a significant drug-related criminal history, a search of court records showed.

Deputies did not say what spurred the violence.

"We're still investigating the actual motive," Campos said. "There's no indication, by the way, that this had any kind of gang motive."

Specifics about the killing also have not been released, such as when Garcia was shot or where he was when he was killed. A Soquel High School official said Friday that Garcia's car had been in the parking lot no more than 12 hours.

"It's still being investigated as to where this crime occurred," Campos said. "I can only speculate that he was moved as a way of avoiding detection."

Garcia had been shot once in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Sheriff's Office. An autopsy was performed Monday afternoon.

Castillo identified himself as a builder when he was booked into jail. Campos said Castillo also is a self-employed maintenance worker and pool man who lives on the 4100 block of Clares Street. Investigators blocked off his home Sunday while they served a search warrant. Campos declined to say what, if anything, was found at the house.

Castillo is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. He will be arraigned today on one count of murder and a special enhancement that he used a gun, according to District Attorney Bob Lee.

In 1986, Castillo was arrested and charged with murder for the execution-style killing of his best friend, Abraham Moya Calavario, 28. A rancher found Calavario's body in a North Coast Brussels sprout field. Castillo, who used the name Fred Lozoya, was the last person to see him alive, according to Sentinel archives.

The victim's girlfriend said the two men sold marijuana and cocaine together, and authorities speculated that the slaying might have been over a drug deal that went bad or a quarrel over a woman, according to Sentinel files.

But the case was wholly circumstantial, and 15 months after his arrest, Castillo was acquitted by a jury, according to Sentinel archives.